A famiclone is a type of clone console compatible with Famicom or NES games (or both, which is rare). As Nintendo's patents on the hardware have expired, it is now legal to sell any famiclone that does not have pirated software built in.
Hardware[]
The earliest famiclones, usually made in Taiwan, were a more or less exact copy of the original hardware, using cloned chips usually manufactured by UMC. However, later famiclones produced since the mid-late 90s usually incorporate the entire system into a single small chip, known as a NES-on-a-chip (NOAC) design, which is much cheaper to produce and much smaller (allowing for more creative and compact console designs) but less faithful recreation of the original console, leading to compatibility problems.
There are also DVD and VCD players, as well as certain portable media players (often marketed as "MP5" players), which can play NES/Famicom games via DVDs, CD-ROMs, or through mass storage media, although they usually contain (often slow) emulators rather than an actual hardware clone. These are more common in the Far East and Latin America than anywhere else.
UM6578[]
- Main article: UM6578
The UM6578, also known as the SH6578 and the NT6578, is an enhanced single-chip Famiclone produced by UMC starting some time in the late 1990s. The most notable of the enhancements introduced is a video processor incompatible with the original Famicom/NES that has a larger color palette and supports both a 4-color mode and a new 16-color mode that backgrounds and sprites can use. Other enhancements include extra CPU and video memory (10 KB built-in for each to the chip, which can be extended up to 64 KB), support for 8-bit PCM and ADPCM sound, and multiple types of native peripheral support, including controllers, keyboards, mice, printers, and floppy disk drives. The chip is also known to have been sold by Sinowealth and Novatek as the SH6578 and NT6578 respectively.
The earliest known uses of this Famiclone are in two Japanese plug and play systems produced and sold by Bandai in 1997: a multi-game unit named the Gamepad (or Bandai Gamepad) that contains 10 original games, and a licensed plug and play unit based on a Japanese children's property that uses a mouse for input named Go! Go! Connie-chan! Asobou Mouse (ゴー!ゴー!コニーちゃん!あそぼうマウス). The UM6578 would also be used by JungleTac for some plug and play systems produced by them, such as the Handy Boy 11 in 1, and by Timetop for a proprietary TV game console that accepts both original UM6578-enhanced games and standard Famicom cartridges.
VT02/VT03 & OneBus[]
- Main article: VTxx
The OneBus hardware is essentially a modified Famicom, designed by the Taiwanese company V.R. Technology. Its standard Famiclone system is called the VT02. Unlike the Famicom which has separate banks for the programming and graphics, (named the PRG and CHR banks) the OneBus combines the two, meaning that only one bus is required, hence the name. The VT03 has better graphical capabilities than standard Famicom hardware, allowing for up to 16 colors per graphical tile as opposed to 4 (in both cases, one color is transparent). It was developed in collaboration with JungleTac[citation needed] and Hummer Technology.[1] There is an emulator for the OneBus called EmuVT, made by JungleTac in 2006 and credited to Wise Wang
Appearance[]
Older famiclones, like the Dendy Junior, usually looked nearly identical the original Famicom, while newer ones are sometimes designed to resemble a more recent console - famiclones have been modeled after nearly every mainstream post-Famicom console, from the Mega Drive to the Nintendo Switch, although many original designs have also been created. More recent clones are often self contained within a controller, handheld console or other more specialized hardware (such as a keyboard or dance mat), either with (albeit with a proprietary cartridge slot, along with an adapter for regular Famicom games) or without a cartridge slot.
Software[]
Until about 2000, the majority of famiclones with built-in games only included pirated copies of licensed software - often with greatly inflated game counts - with a few notable exceptions; however, after this point some clones began to incorporate games with graphics and music hacked to disguise their origins (most of which are made by Inventor), and later completely original games. Some of these original games are produced by Waixing or Nice Code Software, such as those on the 8-bit Vii (not to be confused with Kensington/JungleTac's Vii).
List of Famiclones[]
"Licensed" Systems[]
These consoles feature officially licensed software from actual game companies (but not Nintendo).
- Atari Flashback - collection of Atari 2600 and 7800 games, ported by Nice Code.
- Basic Fun Mini Arcade Machines - Released in Q-Bert and Centipede variants. Q-bert is the standard NES game, and Centipede is from the Atari Flashback.
- Basic Fun Atari Keychains - Tiny keychains of Atari joysticks. Different ports than the Flashback.
- Coleco Head-to-Head - Features games loosely based on late 70s sports handhelds from Coleco.
- "Commodore 64" 5-in-1 - Quietly released Famiclone featuring ports of "Colosoftware" C64 games. Developer is unknown.
- Konami Plug 'n Plays - Sold in 1 (Frogger) and 5-in-1 variants. Feature three standard NES games and three arcade games, ported by JungleTac.
- Dance Dance Revolution/Dancing Stage systems - Running on VT03 hardware. There are Mickey Mouse and Strawberry Shortcake versions. The latter being a port of the PlayStation game, "Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Mix" and their Game Boy Color and Arcade counterparts.
- Data East Pixel Classics - Made by DreamGEAR; features 8 Data East NES games and 300 Nice Code and Inventor games.
- My Arcade Micro Players - Tabletop arcade machines made by My Arcade (DreamGEAR). About a dozen have been produced, including Pac-Man, BurgerTime, and Mappy among others. Of a rather high quality compared to most other Famiclones.
- Play Power Intellivision - Sold in 10, 15, and 25-in-1 variants. Features Intellivision games, ported by Nice Code.
- VG Pocket - A line of JungleTac systems with various game licenses from Konami, Data East and Taito, in addition to generic games.
Licensed by Nintendo[]
These consoles run on Famiclone-style hardware, but were licensed by Nintendo for official distribution.
- Hyundai Comboy (South Korean NES variant, Region-locked to accept South Korean market games only)
- Samurai - Electronic TV Game (Indian NES variant, possibly also Region-locked)
- Sharp Famicom Titler
- Sharp Famicom TV - Released in North America as the Sharp Nintendo Television.
- Sharp Twin Famicom
Home Systems[]
- AB Standard 8 Bit
- Action+Super 6
- Asahi VCD
- Beta 5
- Bit Game
- Bit System
- Blazepro
- Boss 3800a
- Bromark BM 1500
- Castle Supergame
- Chaoba YF 3000 Television Computer System
- Chin Laser
- Classical TV Game Player TY 22
- Console TV by Advance Bright Limited - contains hacked games
- Console TV Challenge - contains steering wheel
- Console TV Play Stadium
- Cosmo Tech Game Engine
- Crazy Boy
- Cyber Boy
- Deluxe Arcade Power Player
- Dendy (Russia, by Steepler Ltd.)
- Dendy/Dendy Classic - Rebranded Micro Genius IQ-501
- Dendy Classic II - Rebranded Micro Genius IQ-502
- Dendy Junior - Unknown Micro Genius?
- Dendy Junior II
- Dendy 2/Dendy 8 - Not produced by Steepler, uses MegaDrive layouts.
- Dendy Star Trek
- Dendy Master
- Dendy Mario
- Digitron Wireless Xtreme
- Dinosaur
- Dinostar
- Dongsheng
- Dynavision - Brazilian Famiclone.
- Dynavision II
- Dynavision 3 (Famiclone with 2 cartridge slots, one for 72 pin and one for 60 pin. Released in different bundles such as Advance, Action, Radical and +Radical.)
- Dynavision 4 (Same deal as the latter but with a different design. Released in different bundles such as Radical, Advance and Action.)
- Dynavision Radical (Same design as Dynavision 4 but with only one cartridge slot for 60 pin. the Plus bundle comes with 2 controllers.)
- Dynavision Xtreme
- Wi Vision / Dynavision Black
- Eastern Computer
- Ending Man JJ-80-50
- Ending Man S-700
- Entertainment System
- ES Game Funplayer
- ES Game Polyvox
- Extreme Box
- Factor 5 - Not to be confused with the company of the same name
- Famulator
- Family Boy
- Family Computer - The reason why it has the same name as its original is unknown.
- Family Game
- Family Game Action Set
- Family Game Selection Set
- FC Compact
- FC Compact II
- Mini FC Compact
- FC Game Console
- Frog Computer
- Funtime
- GA-886
- Game 2008
- Game Boy - Not to be confused of the portable console by Nintendo of the same name
- Game City
- Game Corner
- Game Corner Funmachine
- Game Dunk
- Game Power 2
- Game Soldier 007
- Game Star Advance
- Game Station 3
- Game Station 5
- Game World 98
- Gamebox
- Gamezone
- Gamezone 2
- GB Turtle
- Generation NEX (Plays both NES and Famicom carts, supposedly VT03 compatible)
- Geniecom
- Geniecom 3
- GLK 98
- Golden China (South Africa)
- Good Boy
- GVC Nintendo
- Hi Top
- Hitex
- Home Computer 3600
- Hot Boy
- HT 767 Television Computer System
- Inteltron 7000
- Interstellar Fighter
- IQ301 Computer Game
- IQ502
- Jamiko Neo Boy
- Joycom 100
- Joy Kid
- Joymax
- King Game VI
- Kingo Game Player
- KK 128-In-1 Game Player
- KR 300
- Lifa 882
- Likey PSX
- Liming
- Lin Tong 777
- Magistr series - Russia, by New Game.
- Micro Genius series (Worldwide, sold under different names in some countries)
- N-Joypad - fake CD-based system by Advance Bright Limited
- NASA Entertainment Computer System - both 60 & 72 pin slots [1]
- Newtendo Super Famcom
- Nichiman (Colombia) (Rebranded Micro Genius)
- Pegasus (Poland, by Bobmark International)
- Pegasus MT777DX (Similar to Famicom)
- Pegasus IQ-502 (More modern design, with round controllers resembling the ones used in SNES - rebranded Micro Genius)
- Phantom System – Made in Brazil by Gradiente
- Play & Power I
- PolyStation
- PolyStation 64: The Power Machine
- PolyStation II
- PolyStation III
- PolyStation III Super Soccer system
- Kombat-8
- Dendy 3 - Not produced by Steepler
- PS-Kid - By Cheer-Tech [2]
- Retrocon - by Blaze [3]
- Saint Dragon Electron
- Simba's Keyboard-003
- Subor (Various models - from China, related to Waixing, often sold in Russia)
- Super*Boy
- Top Game – Models VG-8000 and VG-9000 (dual slot), Made in Brazil by CCE
- Ultra 8 Bit AKA Arcade Action
- Mega Arcade Action / Arcade Action 2 (OneBus based, 101 in 1 cart with hacked games + one original)
- Vii (8-bit version) (China) [4] - by Power King/Xinan Industry Co., Ltd
- VCOM (Indonesia) - by PT Sarana Cipta Kreasi Cemerlang, brand also used in GBA clones
- WiWi and Wiii3 - Wii clone systems produced by Qi Sheng Long. Most consoles released under these names are VT03-based Famiclones that are backwards compatible with standard 60-pin Famicom cartridges. While most consoles come with a OneBus multicart with games by Nice Code Software, some of which take advantage of the VT03's enhanced color mode, they also come with a "sports" cartridge preloaded with a set amount of games that are capable of full 16-bit graphics and digitized audio. This "sports" cartridge houses an entire 16-bit Sunplus SPG system configured to run multi-game software developed by Niutai Technology Development and uses the actual WiWi/Wiii3 console as a passthrough for audio/video output and controller input (the WiWi Simple includes 18 of these games built-in).
- 8 BIT (Argentina) - by ApevTech
Multi-system[]
These are compatible with more than one console's cartridges, and are particularly popular in the US but have seen limited release elsewhere (so are usually found with 72-pin NES ports rather than 60-pin Famicom ones).
- FC 3 Plus - NES/Famicom + SNES/Super Famicom + Mega Drive/Genesis (+ "G-Factor", Qi Sheng Long's cartridges)
- FC Twin Video Game System - NES/Famicom + SNES/Super Famicom
- GN Twin - NES/Famicom + Mega Drive/Genesis
- Retro Duo - NES/Famicom + SNES/Super Famicom
- RetroN 3 - NES/Famicom + SNES/Super Famicom + Mega Drive/Genesis
Lock-on[]
These use another console for display & controls.
- Tristar / Super 8 - for SNES
- Tristar 64 - NES/FC + SNES clone, for N64
Portable Systems[]
- Classic Max Pocket (horizontal) and HiQ Classic - Handhelds manufactured by JungleTac and distributed by various companies around the world. The HiQ Classic would be produced in vertically oriented and horizontally oriented varieties, each containing their own set of games designed for their respective screens. The HiQ Classic and most of the horizontal Classic Max Pocket handhelds use VT3xx hardware, an enhanced famiclone with support for high resolution video modes and sampled audio. Both consoles contain versions of a set of newer JungleTac games developed for VT3xx hardware, which typically only use the NES APU on the VT3xx for music and sampled audio being exclusively reserved for sound effects (some of these games are ports of games from JungleTac's vertical Classic Max Pocket systems, which use the non-NES compatible VT168 chipset)
- CoolBoy - The name of various different handheld systems created by Subor/Waixing, including:
- Standard Famicom cart version - also known as FC Mobile, Famizero Portable, Poke Boy [5], and distributed by New Game as Dendy Megaboy. A 72-pin NES version was released by Hyperkin in the US under the FC Mobile name.
- Proprietary cart version - uses small carts resembling the GBA's. Some contain Waixing/Nice Code games, others pirate Famicom games.
- 2PG - Compatible console resembling a PSP
- Game Prince - 152-in-1 handheld.
- PVP Station series - Line of PSP-shaped handhelds. At least 20 different models exist, each with different game lists.
- FC-Portable [6] [7] by Qi Sheng Long [8]
- FC Mobile II - includes a gun and two wireless controllers. Both 72 & 60 pin versions available, made by Qi Sheng Long. Also known as PokeFami in Japan (not to be confused with the PocketFami, which is also called "PokeFami" in Japanese) [9]
- GameAxe
- GameKing III (by Timetop, there's a non-NES clone console with the same name. GameKing I and II also exist, but these play proprietary games similar to those on the Game Boy).
- Game Theory Admiral
- Gamespower 50 - by JungleTac
- Pocket Boy FC-360 [10]
- PocketFami (AKA PokeFami, by GameTech, distributed in the UK by Blaze)
- VG Pocket Max by JungleTac
- GB Station "Light"
- DreamGEAR My Arcade Handhelds
- Multicade 230
- Nanica Smitch
- FC Pocket
- Bitt-Boy
Lock-on[]
These use another handheld for a display.
- AdFami (aka GBA Time Machine) - for the GBA, by Gametech
- Famulator Lite - for the DS Lite, by Cyber Gadget
- Handy FamiEight - for the GBA SP, by Dragon
Multi-system[]
- Action Gamemaster - By Active Enterprises; massively unrealistic, never released.
- One Station - Theoretically unlimited, as the console hardware is built into the cartridges rather than the console.
Hybrid systems[]
These play Famicom games on a TV but have a built in LCD "brick game" for portable play; portable Famiclones weren't available at the time of their release.
- Polystation Advance
- Power Joy series - by Trump Grand Manufacturing Co.:
- Power Joy Voyager
- Power Joy III
Standard controller-based systems (Plug 'N Play)[]
- 120 in 1 Plug And Play - distributed by Bluetek, takes the shape of a Dreamcast controller.
- Game Stick
- Mega Joy (I & II)
- Micro Genius IQ-901
- Power Player Super Joy III
- Rumble Station - Games by Color Dreams
- DreamGEAR My Arcade Series
- Super Joy
- gunboy (n64 controller)
- Vs. Maxx Series
Controller-based with Built-in Lightgun[]
- GunBoy by Advance Bright Limited.
- Twin LightBlaster Joypad - Shaped like GunBoy, built-in hacks and a cartridge slot.
- Power Joy series - Manufactured by Trump Grand.
- Power Joy / Power Joy II - 10 hacks built-in, only included cartridge differs.
- Power Joy Supermax - 60+30 game cartridges included, OneBus-based.
- Gun Fighter - Same shape as the GunBoy, except it's blue instead of red. Includes 64 games, which are a mixture of hacks, official Famicom games and Nice Code originals. Distributed by Tevion Gaming.
Joysticks[]
- 88 Games - by Macro Winners.
- Air Blaster by Advance Bright Limited.
- Arcade TV Game Set by Advance Bright Limited.
Steering wheels[]
- Venturer Super Start all-in-one
Dance mats[]
- Hot Dance 2000 - 8-bit Dance Dance Revolution clone designed for a proprietary plug and play dance mat system. Infamous for coming preloaded with a variety of chiptune covers of songs with a distinct sound design. While the developers are unknown, development is attributed to ex-Subor developers as the dance mat game along with its many variants share many connections with Subor's educational software, including a sound engine and composition style present in certain Subor educational software such as Subor V.
- Dance Master / Dance Party 3 - Distributed by Advance Bright Limited and other companies. Dedicated plug and play dance mat system with software that shares many similarities to Hot Dance 2000, including the distinct sound engine and composition style for the songs, suggesting it was also developed by the same ex-Subor developers as Hot Dance 2000.
- Twin Dancers by Advance Bright Limited.
- GLKDance (Gold Leopard King Dance)
Keyboards[]
- Subor series
- Gold Leopard King series [11]
- Mega Kid MK-1000
Miscellaneous / Uncategorised[]
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References[]
- ↑ Personal correspondence with Hummer Cheng
See also[]
External link[]
TV & generic game hardware |
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Elan · Famiclone · Firecore · GPL162xx · Sunplus SPG · UM6578 · VTxx · VTxxx |